Lt. Josh Shaffer

Lieutenant Joshua Shaffer has been with the Knoxville Police Department since June 1998 where he began as a police cadet. He entered the basic academy in 2000, was promoted to sergeant in 2010, and was promoted to Lieutenant in 2020. Lieutenant Shaffer is currently assigned as a supervisor in the Investigations Bureau, overseeing the Organized Crime Unit. He also serves as the Task Force Commander for the Drug Related Death Task Force, which is part of Appalachia HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area). Prior to this assignment, Lieutenant Shaffer worked as a patrol officer in the patrol division, a bike officer in the Central Business District, a plain clothes officer in various street crimes units, an investigator in the Repeat Offender Squad, a supervisor in the uniform division of Patrol, a supervisor in the Repeat Offender Squad, a supervisor in the Violent Crimes Unit, a Patrol Lieutenant, as well as supervisor of the Community Engagement Response Team. In addition, Lieutenant Shaffer is the Commander of the Special Operations Squad.

Lieutenant Joshua Shaffer has been with the Knoxville Police Department since June 1998. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. Prior to entering the police academy, he was a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician and had previously conducted internships in 1996 and 1997 with the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Internal Medicine and the Emergency Department.

Lieutenant Shaffer has received training in the fields of gang and drug investigations from the ATF, I.P.T.M., Regional Counterdrug Training Academy, TBI, Nat’l Assoc of Undercover Officers, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, T.B.I., Midwest Counterdrug Training Center, and the Atlanta HIDTA office. He has received training in tactical operations from the National Tactical Officers Association, U.S. Dept of Homeland Security, TN Dept of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, the Terrorism Research Center, and Government Training Institute. He has received training in death and homicide investigations from the F.B.I. and the Southern Police Institute.

Lieutenant Shaffer was the class valedictorian of his basic academy, has been named Officer of the Month twice, was named Officer of the Year for 2010 as well as 2019 and was nominated for Officer of the Year three other times. Lieutenant Shaffer was also named Officer of the Year for the Eastern District of Tennessee in 2010. Lieutenant Shaffer has taught courses related to drug identification and investigations as well as gang familiarization and trends to various community groups, youth programs, the Knoxville Police Department Training Academy, and various law enforcement agencies.

Lieutenant Shaffer has testified in state and federal court on the current trends of drug trafficking and street gangs. He has also been qualified as an expert in the field of drug distribution and investigations in Criminal Court in the 6th judicial district of Tennessee. Lieutenant Shaffer serves as commander of KPD’s Organized Crime Unit. He previously formed and now leads Appalachia HIDTA’s Drug Related Death Task Force. The purpose of the Task Force is to investigate and prosecute drug related deaths and drug offenders and organizations that are identified through those investigations. Lieutenant Shaffer has taught drug related and overdose death investigations to numerous agencies within Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and California. Lieutenant Shaffer has presented on the topics of drug related death investigations as well as the current drug crisis to numerous community groups as well as to the Tennessee Association of Narcotics Officers Conference, the Tennessee F.B.I. Academy Alumni Association Conference, the University Of Tennessee Graduate School Of Medicine, the National Narcotic Officers’ Association Coalition in Washington D.C., and the 2020 ROCIC Homicide Conference. Lieutenant Shaffer also previously formed and supervised the Community Engagement Response Team while assigned to the Patrol Division to address a rise in Violent Gun Crime through a combination of enforcement and community cooperation.

Lieutenant Shaffer also serves as the primary instructor for the Knoxville Police Department Basic Recruit Academy for the following classes; Cultural Competency, Just and Fair Policing, Response to Crimes in Progress, Barricaded Subjects and Major Critical Incidents, Field Application of Constitutional Law, and State and Federal Agencies.